Kern County DA Lisa Green announced that her office will not retry Vicente Benavides Figueroa, whose conviction and death sentence were overturned by the California Supreme Court on March 12 in state habeas corpus proceedings.The DA's decision illustrates that a decision not to retry a case is not the same as a finding that the defendant is actually innocent. She concludes that "upon an objective review of the facts, there is insufficient evidence to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."So this is one of those cases where the other side will crow "exonerated," much of the public will misunderstand that to mean actually, demonstrably innocent, and the truth will never be known for sure.An additional factor in the DA's decision is that even if they did get a second-degree murder conviction, between Benavides's age and the time he has already spent in prison there is a strong chance he would be paroled promptly.How would a case like…
No Retrial for Former Cal. Death Row Inmate
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Lots of notable reporting and commentary as federal prison reform tries to move forward
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Colorado Sex Offender Registration Removal for an Out-of-State Conviction
In Colorado, it may be possible to be removed from the Colorado sex offender registry even if the out-of-state case resulted in a “lifetime” registration requirement. Colorado laws regarding registration may be less stringent than some other states. Sometimes Colorado residents who are required to register (in Colorado) for an out-of-state case simply continue to register even if they are eligible for removal because the are unaware of the laws in Colorado and/or are unsure about the often times intimidating process of petitioning the court for removal. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) maintains a public open access database to search for persons that are required to register as sex offenders in Colorado. The CBI database provides photographs of the person, information about the offense, the person’s address (including a map), and date of conviction. Not all persons who are required to register are included in the CBI…
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Now a full decade after Rita, Gall and Kimbrough, do any Justices still care about reasonableness review?
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Drug Bust on Video | Photographer Arrested
Citizen JournalistDrug Bust on VideoTampa Drug Defense Attorney Michael P Maddux has recently reviewed a case where there was a Drug Bust on Video. The citizen photographer was arrested. Criminal Defense issues will be was there a Search Warrant, Probable Cause, or Consent to Search? The video mentions a "warrant", but the police office claims consent to search the vehicle.Civil Rights issue will be can the police arrest a citizen reporter recording police actions on a city street? What do you think?Documentary | Copwatch: These Streets are WatchingFighting for you or a friend. Law Office of W.F. ''Casey'' Ebsary Jr 2102 W Cleveland St Tampa, Florida 33606 (813) 222-2220
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Washington Appeals Court Finds PIP Application Is Confidential Work Product
When Washington car accident victims apply for no-fault benefits from their own insurer, they may not consider that the information contained in the application could affect their claim against the at-fault driver. In a recent case, however, the information in the application played a significant role at trial. This case involved an eight-year-old boy who was struck by a van. The defendant stopped and got out of her van when she heard a noise and felt the van jump. An eight-year-old boy was lying on the ground near a pickup truck. The van had run over one of his legs. At issue in the appeal was the admissibility of an application for no-fault benefits. The boy’s mother speaks only Spanish. A law firm helped her apply. She signed a blank application for PIP benefits, and a legal assistant filled it in later. The legal assistant used the police report in completing the form and wrote that a “child on a bike rode into the…
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"Will the Supreme Court Rein in Civil Forfeiture?"
From The New Republic, via the NACDL news scan: The trial court refused to authorize the seizure. Indiana law only allowed a $10,000 fine for Timbs’s sentence, and the court concluded that seizing a vehicle worth four times as much...
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PA Legislature Revises SORNA in Attempt to Fix Unconstitutional Megan's Law Provisions
Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyer Zak T. Goldstein, Esq. The Pennsylvania Legislature recently enacted HB 631, amending Pennsylvania’s SORNA statute which governs who must register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, the type of information that must be provided, how often that information must be provided, and for how long an offender must register. HB 631 is the legislature’s response to recent appellate decisions finding various provisions of SORNA unconstitutional. However, HB 631 fails to address many of the issues that led to SORNA being found unconstitutional in the first place, and many of its provisions remain subject to litigation when applied to offenders who were convicted of crimes for acts which were committed prior to December 20, 2012.Recent Changes in SORNA Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law registration scheme has gone through a number of significant changes in the last few…
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"Are Criminal Attempts Bumpy?"
Adam Kolber has this interesting post at PrawfsBlawg. In part: The law draws hard-to-justify lines around vague words. Those lines can lead to dramatically different consequences. In Smoothing Vague Laws, I argued that problems caused by legal vagueness can be...
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Misdemeanor Prior Conviction Level
For felony sentencing, a defendant’s criminal history is scored as a “prior record level.” The analogous measure for misdemeanor sentencing is “prior conviction level.” There are important differences between the two measures. There are three misdemeanor prior conviction levels. If a defendant has no prior convictions, he or she is Level I. Defendants with 1 to 4 prior convictions are Level II. And Defendants with five or more prior convictions are Level III. G.S. 15A-1340.21. Convictions are tallied as of the day judgment is entered for the crime being sentenced. G.S. 15A-1340.11(7). All prior felonies and misdemeanors count, and they all count equally. Unlike felony prior record level, misdemeanor prior conviction level does not give greater weight to a person’s more serious prior convictions. For misdemeanor sentencing purposes, a prior murder counts the same as a prior trespass: one prior conviction. Another difference from felony prior…
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Senate Minority Leader to introduce bill to deschedule marijuana
Vice News has this notable new story under the headline "Sen. Chuck Schumer to introduce bill to 'decriminalize' marijuana." Here are the details: In an exclusive interview with VICE News, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed he is putting his name on legislation that he said is aimed at “decriminalizing” marijuana...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/-YZnTuVtInk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Maine Law: Domestic Violence Terrorizing
The State of Maine takes Domestic Violence crimes seriously. These charges include DV Assault, DV Criminal Threatening, DV Terrorizing, DV Stalking, and DV Reckless Conduct. Domestic violence cases are treated with great concern by each Maine District Attorney’s Office. Domestic Violence Terrorizing is categorized as a domestic violence crime in Maine. A conviction for Domestic […] The post Maine Law: Domestic Violence Terrorizing appeared first on The Nielsen Group.
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Alabama completes execution of (record-old) murderer of federal judge
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The Marital Communications Privilege in Florida
If you have been charged with a crime, whether in Florida or elsewhere, it’s quite natural to feel a bit “overwhelmed” or “nervous” about the prospect of criminal litigation — after all, the consequences of criminal litigation can be life-altering. Failure to effectively counter the prosecution’s arguments and have the charges dismissed can lead to a conviction and, subsequently, a sentence that involves a term of imprisonment, probation, or both.
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On increasing prosecutor caseloads in an era of crime decline
On Twitter, TDCAA complained about Grits' observation in this post that, as the number of crimes with victims declined over recent years, police and prosecutors have shifted their focus to areas where they may maintain or even increase caseloads despite more than two decades of dropping crime.The association is right that caseloads have increased. Grits has discussed before how the number of criminal convictions statewide continued to rise long after crime and arrests began to drop. In his book, Locked In, John Pfaff demonstrated the same trend occurred nationwide from the mid-90s to the late aughts, with the number of felony-charges-per-arrest over that period rising from one-in-three to two-in-three. So, even as crime and arrests declined, the number of convictions continued to rise.On the ground, Grits sees this trend playing out as law enforcement shifting resources to activities that aren't particularly public-safety oriented and which certainly aren't…
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How does an ignition interlock device work?
There is no doubt that Arizona's drunk driving laws are among the very toughest in the nation. A first DUI offense can mean jail time, substantial fines, mandated alcohol treatment and required community service. All those convicted of DUI in our state are also required to equip their vehicle with a certified ignition interlock device. Many people who have been arrested for DUI are unsure of what an ignition interlock device* is, how it works and if the rumors they might have heard about the devices are true. Ignition lock device company LifeSafer has a number of locations in the Valley of the Sun, including in Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale and Scottsdale. The company says its devices allow those convicted of drunk driving to continue to work, attend school and take care of other important tasks. That's a big improvement over the past, it contends, in which a DUI conviction resulted in a license suspension or revocation that prevented driving for any and all reasons. It…
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Effective (and depressing) report on compassionate release (or lack thereof) in Wisconsin and nationwide
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Because the calendar suggests I should, here is a round-up of some recent posts from Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform
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**Update**Fatality Crash Ramsey Road/ Golf Course Road, Coeur d'Alene
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 1 Patrol 615 West Wilbur Ave. Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 (208) 209-8620 Fax (208) 209-8619 For Immediate Release: <04/16/18 01:12> Please direct questions to the District Office **Update** Casey Mitchell, 22, of Coeur d'Alene passed away from injuries on 4/17/2018. ************ On April 15, 2018 at 8:03 pm the Idaho State Police investigated a two vehicle injury crash on Ramsey Road at Golf Course Road in Coeur d'Alene. Annette R. Mitchell, 49, of Coeur d'Alene was southbound on Ramsey in a black 2017 Nissan Murano, transporting a passenger, Casey Mitchell, with a medical emergency. Ms. Mitchell ran a red light striking David Delgado, 50, of Coeur d'Alene who was driving a silver 2004 GMC Sierra Pickup that was eastbound on Golf Course Road. No…
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National Poetry Month: A Poem of Promise, A Poem of Despair
To help us celebrate National Poetry Month, the Innocence Blog asked readers to share with us their poetry about justice. The response has been overwhelming. Thank you to all of you who have submitted your work. Your poetry has been inspiring. Today, we are featuring two poems by Innocence Blog readers. The first poem was written by Jessica Romano. The second poem is titled Justice For David: A Wrongful Conviction and was written by Juanita Haley. Thank you, Jessica and Juanita, for reaching out and sharing your beautiful poems with us. If you’ve written poems about justice that you’d like to share, please send them to poetrymonth@innocenceproject.org or comment below. We may feature your piece on the Innocence Blog and social media. Those who are never accused Do not realize how it changes you Even if exonerated, you are never really excused Like the loss of the victim, you have lost too The ache and the pain never end Even when freedom is gained The…
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